Cracksman has been ruled out of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly next Sunday with the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot a possible target.
The news will surprise few, even if it may dismay some, as connections had repeatedly insisted that the Arc was unlikely even after Cracksman had looked so impressive when winning the Prix Niel, over the same course and distance, earlier this month.
The fact that Frankie Dettori was committed to riding Enable – like Cracksman, trained by John Gosden – has also swayed the decision of Cracksman’s owner, Anthony Oppenheimer, who said: “I think it had a lot to do with Chantilly itself.
A lot depends on the size of the field.
“If it was at Longchamp, where the track is wider and the bends are not as tight, it may have been an easier decision. The horse is well, which is the main thing. He’s in the Champion Stakes, which personally I would say is equally unlikely as the Arc, but that is still four weeks away.”
Today’s meeting at Hamilton Park has been abandoned due to a waterlogged track. The course had been considered raceable early yesterday with an inspection announced for 7.30am this morning.
However, further rain prompted the decision to bring the inspection forward when it became clear that were areas of false ground and, with further rain forecast, officials had no option but to cancel.
The loss of this fixture follows the abandonment of Ayr’s three-day Western meeting last week.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here